• as a subject

Riding the waves is the thrill of a lifetime.

Drinking too much coffee fastens your heartbeat.
• after prepositions such as:
talk about Theme 2 inHOBBIES
interested AND
accustomed to SKILLS
look forward to
object to fond of use for think of
insist on apologize for blame for thank for
instead of feel like worry about afraid of
good/bad at keen on happy about responsible for
tired of crazy about believe in rely on
succeed in complain about be into think about
be gifted in

Eskil is interested in balancing when he was five years old.

All the students are responsible for obeying the school rules.

CAN / COULD / BE ABLE TO

Can / Can’t
• We use can to talk about ability.
She can speak English fluently.

Affirmative
Subject Can Verb
I / He / She / It
can run fast.
We / You / They

Negative
Subject can’t (cannot) Verb
I / He / She / It
can’t (cannot) run fast.
We / You / They

Interrogative
Can Subject Verb
I / he / she / it
Can run fast?
we / you / they

• Could and was / were able to are the past tense forms of can (ability).
• In positive sentences we use could or was / were able to.
• We use could for general statements.
• We use was / were able to for specific events or when something was difficult, but you manage to do it.
My brother is a real intelligent boy. He could play chess when he was only five.
The other team played very well, but we were able to win.
Our goalkeeper was great, so the other team couldn’t score a goal.
He could run very fast when he was a young boy, but now he’s very old, and it’s very difficult for him to do sports.
She is a very talented girl. She can draw amazing pictures.

EXERCISES

Fill in the blanks with can, can’t, could, couldn’t, was/were able to.
1. When his mother was young, she .................. skate but she can’t do it any longer.
2. Tom is really into music. He .................. play three instruments.
3. Although it was raining hard, we .................. finish the match.
4. As the weather was stormy, we .................. go sailing.
5. Mary was a fast runner. She .................. run 18 km per hour.
6. He .................. read without glasses till he suffered from visual disorder.

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EXPRESSING PREFERENCES
We use would like
• to talk about what we want to do.
After would like we use the infinitive with to.
Do you have time? I would like to talk to you about something.
I wouldn’t like to go on holiday alone. It must be really boring.

Affirmative
Subject would like to + Verb1 + a noun
I / He / She / It to have some warm milk.
would like
We / You / They some warm milk.

Negative
Subject wouldn’t like to + Verb1 + a noun
I / He / She / It to have some warm milk.
wouldn’t like
We / You / They some warm milk.

Interrogative
Would Subject like to + Verb1 + a noun
I / he / she / it to have some warm milk?
Would like
we / you / they some warm milk?

NOTE : would like has the same meaning with want but would like is more polite.

We use would rather

• to state specific preferences.
I would rather visit the Aquarium when I go to İstanbul this summer.
I would rather stay at home and watch a movie with my friends tonight.

Affirmative
Subject would rather Verb
I / He / She / It
would rather (’d rather) eat out.
We / You / They

Negative
would rather not
Subject Verb
(’d rather not)
I / He / She / It
would rather not eat out.
We / You / They

Interrogative
Would Subject rather Verb
I / he / she / it
Would rather eat out?
we / you / they

We use prefer
• to state general preferences.
I don’t like big cities. I prefer living in the countryside.
My little daughter prefers wearing pink clothes instead of yellow or green ones.

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Affirmative
Subject prefer Verb(+ing)
I / You / We / They prefer
being with the family.
He / She / It prefers

Negative
Subject don’t / doesn’t prefer Verb(+ing)
I / You / We / They don’t prefer
being with the family.
He / She / It doesn’t prefer

Interrogative
Do / Does Subject prefer Verb(+ing)
Do I / you / we / they
prefer being with the family?
Does he / she / it

Attention:
I prefer something to something else.
I prefer doing something to doing something else.
I prefer to do something rather than (do) something else.
I prefer a full-time job to a part-time one.
My son prefers playing computer games to playing an instrument.
Turkish people prefer to go on a beach holiday rather than go on an adventure holiday.

We use would prefer

• to say what someone wants in a specific situation not in general.
A: Shall we meet in front of the theatre?
B: No, I would prefer to meet in front of the City Hall. It is nearer.

Affirmative
Subject would prefer to + Verb 1
I / He / She / It
would prefer to travel in a car.
We / You / They

Negative
Subject wouldn’t prefer to + Verb 1
I / He / She / It
wouldn’t prefer to travel in a car.
We / You / They

Interrogative
Would Subject prefer to + Verb 1
I / he / she / it
Would prefer to travel in a car?
we / you / they

Attention: Would rather and would prefer have the same meaning but,
we use subject + would rather + verb + than + verb
The sun is shining outside. I would rather sit in the garden than play chess here.
We use subject + would prefer + to + verb + rather than + verb
The match on TV is very exciting. I would prefer to watch it rather than chat with my parents.

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 EXERCISES

1. I feel sick. I would rather ................ home ................ go out today.

a. stay-than b. staying-to c. to stay-than

2. A: Do you like baggy trousers?

B: Actually not. I prefer ................ skinny jeans ................ baggy ones. I think they are more fashionable.
a. wear-to wear b. wearing-to wearing c. wearing-than wearing

3. I would prefer ………………………to her directly ……………… this problem on the phone.
a. to talk-to solve b. talking-than solving c. to talk-rather than solve

4. I would rather ……………… from the job …………………… those bad working conditions.
a. resigning-than accepting b. resign-than accept c. resign-to accept

5. I would like …………… my favourite singer on the stage when she comes to our city.
a. see b. seeing c. to see

6. People prefer ………………. in supermarkets ………………….. to the local shops as they can find whatever
they need.
a. shopping-to going b. shop-than go c. to shop-to go

7. I have been studying for hours and I feel sleepy, but I won’t go to bed. I would like …………… this project
even if it lasts till the morning.
a. finish b. to finish c. finishing

Theme 3 HARD TIMES

Used to
We use used to
• to talk about our past habits.
Sharon used to spend a lot of money on clothes but these days she doesn’t.
• for things that were true in the past but are not true anymore.
This building used to be a bookstore in the past but now it is a florist’s.

Affirmative
Subject used to Verb
I / He / She / It
used to be sleep in the garden.
We / You / They

Negative
Subject did not use to Verb
I / He / She / It
didn’t use to be sleep in the garden.
We / You / They

Interrogative
Did Subject use to Verb
I / he / she / it
Did use to be sleep in the garden?
we / you / they

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